Computer-Based Methods for Arranging Meetings and Systems for Performing the Same

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for assisting individuals arrange meetings such as networking meetings with other individuals at a specified time (or within a specified time range) and at a specified place (or within a specified geographic region). More specifically, methods and systems for allowing individuals to post an invitation to for a meeting on an on-line network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates computer-based systems and methods forfacilitating the arrangement of meetings between two or more individualsby allowing individuals to post electronic invitations and otherindividuals to review and accept such posted invitations.

Several publications are referenced in this application. The referencesdescribe the state of the art to which this invention pertains and arehereby incorporated by reference.

There are a variety of on-line networking services that allow users tolearn about other users and possibly network with such other users, suchas MySpace.com, Friendster.com, Orkut.com, and Plaxo.com. An onlinesocial network allows an individual to easily keep track ofrelationships that the individual has with other people by leveragingthe internet. Each individual maintains his or her own account profileon the online social network, and defines who his or her relatedindividuals are. Once defined, the online social network retains therelationship. Such services are passive in that they merely provide ameans to learn of other users of similar interest, without providing anactive means to initiate networking with those of specific interests.Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved system and methodwhich overcomes the above described disadvantages.

Evite.com allows users to send invitations for specific events tospecific individuals selected by the user.

Meetup.com allows users to find “Meetups” with others who share a commoninterest or cause or create a “Meetup Group” for others to attend.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,963,900 to Boyd, commonly assigned with the presentapplication and hereby incorporated by reference, discloses systems andmethods that allow individuals to meet and network with otherindividuals at a specified time and place. According to the patentedinvention, a first user “posts” an invitation for a meeting whichincludes a proposed time (or time range) and place for the meeting and,if desired, any preferences or criteria such as who the first user isinterested in meeting with (e.g., a computer scientist, an attorney, aresident from a particular city, alumni from a particular college,etc.). The “invitation” is reviewed by such users. When one or moreusers “accept” the “invitation”, a meeting may be established.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improved systems and methods that allowone or more individuals (“inviting individual” or “inviter”) to meet orotherwise network or exchange information or tangibles with otherindividuals by creating and posting an electronic invitation includingproposed meeting information (e.g., a specified time or time range,specific location or general location (e.g., neighborhood, zip code),purpose, etc.) at a website or other electronic location accessible byother users via the Internet or other computer-based network andallowing other individuals to review such invitations. Preferably, thesystems and methods allow a user to generate an invite and publish orpost the invite on a publicly accessible location such as a websiteand/or transmit the invite to other users (e.g., via email) and alsogenerate a private invite which is only accessible and/or transmitted toselected other individuals (e.g., preferably via email) and notpublished on the website.

One aspect of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus whichenables a user to generate and then advertise or post an invitation to aproposed meeting such as a dinner meeting, a golf outing, or othernetworking event on a computer network, such as the Internet, anddirectly or indirectly receive acceptances from prospective individualusers.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method and apparatus whichenables a plurality of inviting users to advertise or publishinvitations at a single location, which is readily updated, such as aWeb page or bulletin board, and accessible via a computer network, suchas the Internet.

Other aspects as well as embodiments, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent from a study of the presentspecification, including the drawings, claims and specific examples.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that depicts a system architecture inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram for rule-based invitation creation inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram for rule-based invitation acceptance inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram for rule-based invitationcounterproposing in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for rule-based invitation browsing inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram for rule-based invitation activitynotification in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram for requests for invitations inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram for integrating vendor options intoinvitations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram that depicts a computing device in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a computer-based method for arranging a meetingor other event between two or more users comprising:

(a) receiving a proposed invitation from an inviter (e.g., an invitationgenerated by the inviter); and

(b) providing or displaying said proposed invitation information at alocation accessible by one or more users.

FIG. 1 depicts a system architecture in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. The architecture may include terminals operatedby users (100,110) and/or vendors (120) in communication with the system(130) of the present invention, which may include a meeting engine (140)coupled with several databases that store invitation information (150),processing rules (160) and user/vendor profiles (170).

FIGS. 2-5 depict the application of rules by the meeting engine (140) ofthe system (130) in connection with invitation creation, acceptance,counterproposing and browsing.

In FIG. 2, a terminal (100) operated by a user submits (step 200) to thesystem (130) a request over a network (105) to create an invitation fora proposed meeting. The system (130) receives (step 210) the request anddetermines (steps 220, 230) whether one or more rules associated withinvitation creation, such as those stored in a rules database (160),apply to the invitation creation request. The system (130) thenprocesses (step 240) the invitation creation request if all determinedapplicable (e.g., required or necessary rules) rules are satisfied, anddenies (step 250) the invitation creation request if any determinedapplicable rule is not satisfied. FIGS. 3-5 depict similar steps inconnection with invitation acceptance, counterproposing and browsing,respectively. In FIG. 3, a terminal (100) operated by a user submits(300) a request to accept an invitation. The system (130) receives (step310) the request and determines (steps 320, 330) whether one or morerules, such as those stored in the rules database (160), apply to therequest to accept the invitation. The system (130) then processes (step340) the invitation acceptance request if all the applicable rules aresatisfied, and denies (step 350) the invitation acceptance request ifany applicable rule is not satisfied. In FIG. 4, a terminal (100)operated by a user submits (400) a request to make a counterproposal toan invitation. The system (130) receives (step 410) the request anddetermines (steps 420, 430) whether one or more rules, such as thosestored in the rules database (160), apply to the request to make thecounterproposal. The system (130) then processes (step 440) thecounterproposal request if all the applicable rules are satisfied, anddenies (step 450) the counterproposal request if any applicable rule isnot satisfied. In FIG. 5, a terminal (100) operated by a user submits(500) a request to browse for invitation. The system (130) receives(step 510) the request and determines (steps 520, 530) whether one ormore rules, such as those stored in the rules database (160), apply tothe request to browse for invitations. The system (130) then processes(step 540) the browse request if all the applicable rules are satisfied,and denies (step 350) the browse request if any applicable rule is notsatisfied.

The rules described in FIGS. 2-5 may derive from preferences stored inprofiles (170) associated with users and/or vendors affiliated with thesystem (130), security criteria, and other situations as described belowfor example.

FIG. 6 depicts how a user of the system (130) may express a preferencefor and receive notification of invitation activity pertaining toinvitations of other users that are not related to the inquiring user.Invitation activity may include the posting of an invitation or theacceptance of an invitation by another user, or the posting of aninvitation having certain characteristics or keywords (e.g., anyinvitation for Web 2.0 programmers). For example, a user may wish to benotified when a certain other user (e.g., a user the first user wishesto meet or meet again) posts an invitation or accepts an invitation ofanother, in which case the first user may be notified so the first usercan decide whether to participate in the same meeting.

In FIG. 6, a terminal (100) operated by a user provides (step 600) tothe system (130) a request over a network (105) to process an invitationfor a proposed meeting, which may include, for example, drafting,creating, editing, accepting, or counter proposing to the invitation.The system (130) processes (step 610) the request, and determines (steps620, 630) whether the request applies to one or more notification rulesset up by a different user unrelated to the processing of theinvitation. For example, a notification rule can include a request thatthe user be notified if a specific user posts or accepts an inviteand/or if an invite have certain characteristics is processed (e.g.,specific keyword, location and/or meeting purpose). Preferably, thenotification employs RSS. It then provides (step 640) to the differentuser (step 650) a notification in accordance with any determinedapplicable rule. The notification rules may also derive from preferencesstored in profiles (170) associated with users and/or vendors affiliatedwith the system (130), and examples of such notification rules areprovided below.

FIG. 7 depicts how vendors may advertise by requesting invitationsthrough the system (130). In FIG. 7, a terminal (120) operated by avendor submits (step 700) to the system (130) a request over a network(105) for an invitation for a proposed meeting. The system (130)provides (step 710) the request for the invitation to other users.Responsive to a terminal (100) operated by a user accepting (step 720)the request for the invitation, the system (130) generates (step 730)the invitation for the proposed meeting, and notifies (step 740) thevendor (step 750) of the invitation. The initial request for theinvitation provided to the other users may be in the form of an onlineadvertisement such as banner ad, for example, as described below.

FIG. 8 depicts the integration of vendor (commercial user) serviceoptions into invitations. In FIG. 8, a terminal (100) operated by a usersubmits (step 800) to the system (130) criteria over a network (105)associated with an invitation for a proposed meeting. The system (130)receives (step 810) the invitation criteria and determines (step 820)whether it is relevant to one or more services provided by one or morevendors. The system (130) then provides (step 830) the user (step 840)with an option to select any of the determined relevant vendor servicesin connection with the invitation. Embodiments of this functionality areprovided below. A vendor or commercial user is a user of the system whois seeking to sell or otherwise commercialize goods or services to otherusers of the system.

One aspect of the invention relates to improved electronic invitations,and methods and systems for generating and/or electronically publishingand/or otherwise transmitting (e.g., via email) such invitations.

According to one embodiment, the improved invitations include certainspecified information relating to the proposed meeting in the invitationincluding one or more of the following: (a) time or time range forproposed meeting or open time (i.e., whereby an accepting user selectsthe time); (b) date or range of dates (e.g., any Monday-Friday duringApril) or multiple dates (i.e., any date the accepting user selects) oropen date (i.e., whereby an accepting user selects the date) orrecurring date (e.g., daily, weekly, month or a variety of availabledates provided by the inviter); (c) location or approximate location(e.g., neighborhood, airport terminal, tradeshow or conference, etc.);(d) type of meeting (e.g., dinner, lunch, breakfast, drinks, golf,running/jogging partner(s), dog walking, card game or the like, etc.);(e) purpose of meeting (e.g., social networking, business networking,information seeking, business generation, romance, information ortangible exchange, product loan (e.g., cell phone power cord, etc.));(f) minimum and maximum number of invitees; (g) invitee characteristics(e.g., inviter seeking to meet with certain people having certainbackground or profile), preferably with an indication of whetherpreferred or required; (h) inviter characteristics (e.g., inviter has acertain background and is seeking a meeting with individuals interestedin learning about the inviter or information from the inviter); (i)payment obligations (e.g., inviter pays, invitee pays, third party willpay, or share costs); (j) invitation or event name; (k) detaildescription of meeting/event; (l) deadline for accepting invitation; (m)counter invitation limitations or guidelines (e.g., if and how otherusers can submit counter invitations proposing a change in time, place,etc.); (n) list of pre-selected invitees, if any; and (o) inviter'susername. Preferably, the invitation may also include a deadline forshowing up for the proposed meeting (e.g., “Doors will close at 7 pmsharp.”).

Preferably, the proposed invitation comprises proposed invitationinformation including a time and place for a proposed meeting.Preferably, the system allows the inviter to input or post an invitationwith the specified information (a)-(o) in the invitation.

According to one preferred embodiment, the invitations include at leastthe following information: (a) date or range of dates; (b) time or timerange for proposed meeting; (c) location or approximate location; (d)type of meeting; and (e) purpose of meeting. According to anotherpreferred embodiment, the invitations include at least the followinginformation: (a); (c); (d) and (e) purpose of meeting.

According to another embodiment, the invitation includes at least thefollowing specified information in the invitation: (a) date or range ofdates; (b) time or time range for proposed meeting; (c) location orapproximate location; and (g) invitee characteristics. According toanother preferred embodiment, the invitations include at least thefollowing information: (a); (b), (c); (d) and (h). According to anotherpreferred embodiment, the invitations include at least the followinginformation: (a); (c); (d) and (g). According to another preferredembodiment, the invitations include at least the following information:(a); (c); (d) and (h).

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input at least the specified information (a), (b) and (c) in theinvitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the system allowsthe inviter to input at least the specified information (a), (b), (c)and (e) in the invitation. According to another preferred embodiment,the system allows the inviter to input at least the specifiedinformation (a), (c) and (e) in the invitation.

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input at least the specified information (a), (b) and (d) in theinvitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the system allowsthe inviter to input at least the specified information (a), (b) and (e)in the invitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the systemallows the inviter to input at least the specified information (a), (b),(d), and (g) in the invitation. According to another preferredembodiment, the system allows the inviter to input at least thespecified information (a), (b), (d), and (h) in the invitation.

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input at least the specified information (c), (d) and (e) in theinvitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the system allowsthe inviter to input at least the specified information (c), (d), (e)and (g) in the invitation. According to another preferred embodiment,the system allows the inviter to input at least the specifiedinformation (c), (d), (e) and (h) in the invitation.

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input at least the specified information (c), (d) and (g) in theinvitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the system allowsthe inviter to input at least the specified information (c), (d) and (h)in the invitation.

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input at least the specified information (c) and (h) in theinvitation. According to another preferred embodiment, the system allowsthe inviter to input at least the specified information (c) and (g) inthe invitation. Preferably, the invitations of such preferredembodiments further include (e).

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input the specified information (o) username of inviter with at leasteither: (i) criteria (a), (b) and (c); (ii) criteria (a), (b), (c) and(d); (iii) criteria (c); (iv) criteria (c), (d) and (e); (v) criteria(h); (vi) criteria (g) and (h); (vi) criteria (c) and (j); (viii)criteria (c) and (k). Preferably, such embodiment also include criteria(n) list of participants.

According to another preferred embodiment, the system allows the inviterto input the specified information (h) inviter characteristics with atleast either: (i) criteria (a), (b) and (c); (ii) criteria (a), (b), (c)and (d); (iii) criteria (c); (iv) criteria (c), (d), (e) and (g); (v)criteria (g); (vi) criteria (c) and (g); (vi) criteria (c) and (j);(viii) criteria (c) and (k). Preferably, such embodiment also includecriteria (n) list of participants.

Preferably, the invitations include the inviter's username orcharacteristics, preferably allowing other users to review the inviter'sprofile.

Preferably, for the “purpose” of the meeting, the inviter is able toselect from or include information relating to one or more of thefollowing purposes or purpose categories: (a) “business-networking”(e.g., to meet with other individuals within the inviter's industry orwithin the inviter's profession for general business networking andcontact generation); (b) “business—provide marketing/sales information”(e.g., to meet with other individuals to provide them with informationabout a product or service. For example, a trusts attorney may post aninvitations to have coffee with individuals interested in learning abouttrusts and wills); (c) “business—receive marketing/sales information”(e.g., to meet with one or more individuals to provide you withinformation about a product or service. For example, post a meeting witha financial advisor to learn about investment strategies or with apatent attorney to learn whether your invention is patentable); (d)“Business—meet potential customer or vice versa” (e.g., inviter may bein sales or marketing and is interested in meeting with potentialcustomers); (e) “Business—other”; (f) “Career Inquiry” (e.g., to meetwith others to discuss a possible career. For example, meet with a highschool teacher to learn about teaching high school.); (g) “Job Inquiry”(e.g., meet with current or former employees at a company you may beinterested in working for); (h) “Social—networking” (e.g., make newfriends and acquaintances); (i) “Social—hobby” (e.g., meet with fellowhobbyists such a fellow card players, bird watchers, gainers, etc.); (j)“Social—religious” (e.g., meet with others who share the inviter'sfaith); (k) “Social—political meeting” (e.g., meet with others who sharepolitical thoughts or learn from others who don't.); (l)“Social—Pro-sports fans”/“Social—College sports fans” (e.g., to rallywith fellow fans at a favorite sports bar or at the hotel bar); (m)“Social—Alumni” (e.g., meet with other alumni from the inviter's highschool, college or graduate school); (n) “Social—same hometown” (e.g.,to connect with users from the inviter's hometown); (o) “Social—MeetTown Newcomers”; (p) “Social—Intellectual Discussion” (e.g., inviterseeks to have an intellectual discussion with others to discuss one ormore topics such as the civil war, theoretical physics, finance, etc.);(q) “Romance” (e.g., inviter seeks a meeting that is romance orromance-like); (r) child playdate (e.g., post an invitation for a playdate at a local park for your kids); (s) exchange or borrow or loan atangible or intangible product; (t) other.

Preferably, the inviter can create any one of the following types ofinvites: (i) a “private” invite—a meeting where the invite is notpublished but instead only transmitted to and/or viewable by specificinvited guests, preferably invited by providing each guest's emailaddress and/or username so an invite can be sent directly to eachperson; (ii) a “targeted” invite—a meeting where the inviter inviteseither specific guests, such as friends (e.g., by providing theirusernames and/or email addresses) and/or people that meet certain“criteria” (e.g., University of Michigan alumni in New York) and wherethe invite will be published and viewable by anyone browsing theWebsite; and (iii) an “open” invite—a meeting where there is no criteriafor guests and no specific persons identified to invite but will insteadbe published on the internet (e.g., on a website) and viewable andacceptable by any individual using the Website.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention, the inviter ormeeting organizer may “approve” or “decline” another user's acceptanceof the invite. Preferably, the inviter is required to approve or declineeach acceptance from a user who was not pre-selected by the inviter. Forexample, if someone accepted the invite whose background did not fit theinvitee characteristics set forth in the invite, the inviter can“decline” to have that person join the meeting. Preferably, the invitercan “decline” an acceptance for any reason. This allows the inviter tocontrol who attends the inviter's meeting, even if the invite ispublished. According to one preferred embodiment, the system would sendan email to that person informing him that the inviter declined, andthat he may not attend your meeting or, alternatively, send emailsconfirming the meeting to anyone who has accepted and been “approved” bythe inviter. According to another embodiment, if a specific person isinvited to attend a meeting, the inviter would not need to “approve”that person's acceptance in order for that person to receiveconfirmation that he may attend the meeting since the system will assumethat if the inviter has specified someone to invite, the inviter wouldnot have any reason to decline that person's acceptance.

According to another embodiment, the inviter is able to post an invitewhere the time and/or date is left open such that the invitation staysopen until the designated number of users accept (and the users may thanchoose a time and date) or until a first accepting user proposes atime/date. That is, the inviter posts an open invitation and theproposed time is selected by the accepting user and then confirmed bythe inviter. For example, a resident in New York may post an open inviteto meet with any individuals who graduated from same school or post suchan invite and designate certain days of the week as being preferred(e.g., invite is for dinner any Tuesday or Thursday of any week).According to one preferred embodiment, the inviter can post a recurringinvitation where multiple available recurring dates are provided (e.g.,daily, weekly, monthly, any weekday, or random dates selected by theuser) which allows other users to accept the invite for any of the datesprovided. Preferably, the inviter receives a notification when aproposed date has been selected by another user. Preferably, the invitermay confirm the inviter's continued availability for the date selectedby the other user, and preferably, a notification of such confirmationis transmitted to such other user. For example, a first user may post arecurring invite for dinner at 7 pm for any future Monday. A second userreviewing the posted invite will see that the invite date is any futureMonday and can accept any of those open dates for a meeting, preferablythe open dates are displayed in a calendar and the user can accept anyhighlighted date. Preferably, the inviter is then notified that a datehas been selected and is provided with the option of approving theacceptance thereby confirming the inviter is available for that date andalso confirming he or she wishes to meet with the accepting user.According to one embodiment, the invitation with recurring datescontinues being open to future acceptances for the future open dateseven after a first date is accepted and confirmed. According to analternative embodiment, the invitation is closed after a first date isaccepted and confirmed. Preferably, the inviter is provided with anoption to have the invite continue or close after the first confirmedacceptance. According to one preferred embodiment, once a recurringinvite is accepted and the accepted date confirmed by the inviter, it isidentified as a confirmed meeting to other users browsing invites.

According to another embodiment, the inviter can post an invitation withthe specific location open so that the accepting user can propose thespecific location (e.g., propose a specific restaurant when acceptingthe invitation). For example, the inviter may post an invite with only ageneral location (e.g., city, zip code, neighborhood, etc.) and theaccepting user may propose a specific location.

According to another embodiment, the inviter may include only a generallocation in the posted invite while withholding the specific locationwhereby the specific location (e.g., specific restaurant) is disclosedonly to accepting users who have been confirmed by the inviter.Preferably, the specific location of the meeting is emailed to theconfirmed accepting users and/or viewable via a website by the confirmedaccepting users. This will allow the inviter to limit or control whoshows up at the proposed meeting to only those accepting users who theinviter has confirmed or approved since the specific location of themeeting will only be disclosed to those users. According to onepreferred embodiment, the inviter has the option to mask or withhold oneor more aspects of the invite including: (a) meeting date; (b) meetingtime; (c) meeting specific location; (d) meeting purpose; (e) inviter;(f) confirmed accepting users; and (g) combinations there of.Preferably, such masked or withheld information is forwarded toconfirmed accepting users via email or made viewable to such users.

According to another preferred embodiment, the inviter is able toinclude a deadline for accepting the invitation and/or deadline forarriving at the meeting (e.g. “doors close by 8 pm”) to provide otherusers with notice of such deadlines.

According to one embodiment, the one or more users are anonymous in thatthe user posting the invite (“inviter” or “inviting user”) does notpreviously know the one or more users accepting the invitation(“acceptor” or “accepting user”). For example, the users may all beanonymous users. The term “anonymous” as used herein is intended torefer to anonymity between the two or more parties. One form ofanonymity involves “shielded identity”, where a trusted agent knows theidentity or personally identifiable information (e.g., email address) ofthe two or more parties, but does not reveal that identity to othersexcept under specified circumstances. Unless otherwise specified, theterm “anonymity” is used throughout this application interchangeablywith the notion of shielded identity. See, U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,510 toEpstein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,272 to Walker et al; U.S. Pat. No.5,958,007 to Lee et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,270 to Walker et al.; andU.S. Pat. No. 6,012,046 to Lubien et al. According to preferredembodiments of the invention, the system or method provides users with“shielded identity” anonymity in that the system knows the user's nameor contact information (e.g., email address), but this information isnot available to other users. According to other preferred embodiments,the users are not anonymous (e.g., their names or other personalidentifiable information is disclosed in their profiles), but the usersdid not previously know each other.

According to another embodiment, the inviter can invite one or moreknown individuals or pre-selected users to the proposed meeting as wellas post the invitation for acceptance by anonymous users ornon-preselected users. For example, the inviter may select one or morespecific pre-selected users to receive notifications (e.g., via anemail) of the invitation before, after or while the invitation is beingposted for review and acceptance by anonymous or other users.Preferably, the pre-selected user will receive a notification (e.g., viaemail) of being pre-selected as an invitee for the proposed meeting.Preferably, the pre-selected user may accept the invitation, decline theinvitation or save the invitation (e.g., to decide later whether toaccept or decline). Preferably, the pre-selected user is provided withthe option to view the content of the invitation prior to making achoice. According to one preferred embodiment, the pre-selected usersare not registered users and are required to register prior to acceptingor viewing the invitation. According to another preferred embodiment,the inviter has the option to delay the general posting of theinvitation for a period of time after the invite was sent to thepre-selected invitees and/or wait until all the pre-selected inviteeshave accepted or declined the invitation. Preferably, once thepre-selected invitee accepts an invitation, no further confirmation isrequired by the inviter to confirm the meeting.

According to another embodiment, users are capable of posting “closed”or private invitations where all the invitees are pre-selected.Preferably, such “closed” invitations are not posted on the publicinvitation bulletin, preferably at the option of the inviter.Preferably, the inviter may indicate the invite is “closed” to all otherusers except those other users who have one or more specifiedcharacteristics (e.g., profile describes a fellow alumnus, payingsubscriber, etc.). According to another embodiment, only such usershaving such characteristics can view the invite and/or have the inviteincluded in their search results when searching for invites. Accordingto a preferred embodiment, the inviter is able to keep portions of theinvite “closed” or “masked” rather then the entire invite. For example,the inviter may post a meeting with only a general location (e.g., zipcode, city, and/or neighborhood) where the specific location is onlydisclosed to those users who are confirmed participants (e.g., eitherpre-selected or confirmed acceptors) and/or users having specifiedcharacteristics.

According to another embodiment, the inviter can select an option toinclude invitee information or additional inviter information in theinvitation, such that as users are pre-selected or accept theinvitation, such users become listed in the invitation as meetingparticipants. According to another embodiment, the confirmedparticipants are automatically listed in any published invite onceconfirmed as participants. According to another preferred embodiment,the accepting user is provided with the option to not be listed in aninvite. That is, the accepting user may accept and become an approvedmeeting participant without the user's username and/or profileinformation being viewable via the invite. Preferably, the inviteindicates there is a confirmed user but does not disclose the usernameand/or profile information.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to improved invitationsincluding invitee characteristics where the inviter can describe thetypes of individuals the user wants to meet with. For example, theinviter may include a requirement or preference that invitees havecertain characteristics (e.g., work in a certain industry, graduatedfrom certain school, have a specified profession, etc.). Preferably, theinviter is provided with the option to make one or more of the inviteecharacteristics required, preferred or combinations thereof (e.g., onecharacteristic may be required, while another is preferred). Preferably,other users who do not have the specified characteristics in theirprofile cannot view such invites.

According to one embodiment, the user is further able to select one ormore of the following invitee characteristics or characteristiccategories: (i) profession (e.g., sales, marketing, legal, etc.); (ii)industry (e.g., biotech, semiconductors, media, etc.); (iii) currentemployer; (iv) past employers; (v) schools attended/graduated (e.g.,grade school, high school, college, graduate school, etc.); (vi)professional or social associations (e.g., ABA, AIPLA, Elks, MADD,etc.); (vii) fraternity/sorority; (ix) favorite sports team (pro and/orcollege); (x) hobbies; (xi) political party; (xii) hometown—current(e.g., inviter is moving to town and seeking to meet with currentresidents to obtain information about the town); (xiii) hometown-past(e.g., inviter seeking individuals who used to live in town); (ixx)hometown—childhood (e.g., inviter seeking individuals who grew up intown); (xx) military service/branch; (xxi) past or present medicalcondition (e.g., if inviter wishes to meet with other survivors orindividuals diagnosed with same illness to share information andsupport); and (xxii) any other invitee characteristic.

According to one embodiment, the user may select combined optionsrelating to desired invitees. For example, the user may be able todescribe an invitee as someone who is (1) an attorney and (2) a graduateof University of Virginia law school. According to another embodiment,the user may select alternative characteristics. For example, the usermay be able to describe an invitee as someone who is (1) an attorney or(2) a graduate of University of Virginia. Thus, an invitee meetingeither characteristic would be a suitable acceptor. Preferably, userscan do both. Preferably, accepting users are ranked or categorized forthe inviter's review based on whether the accepting users satisfy one ormore of the specified characteristics.

According to another embodiment, the invitation includes the inviter'scharacteristics or background in the invitation, such as the inviteecharacteristics or characteristic categories (i)-(xxii). For example,the inviter may be a certified financial planner and be interested inmeeting with potential clients and thus include that information in theinvitation. As another example, the inviter is a trust & estatesattorney interested in meeting with potential clients to discuss estateplanning options and related matters. Thus, the invitation may describethe inviter and request invitees interested in meeting with the inviter.Preferably, the inviter's username is associated with the invitation andthe inviter's pubic profile with the username for review by other users.Preferably, the inviter is provided with a personal home page containingthe user's profile information or a link to such information.Preferably, the user can designate certain profile or user informationto be posted or associated with the invite so can be reviewed bypotential acceptors. According to a preferred embodiment, the user'spublic profile page may contain a link to an external profile (e.g., theuser's profile from another site).

According to one preferred embodiment, the user's personal homepage ordashboard includes (or includes a link to): (i) personal profileinformation; (ii) a calendar or list of past or future or upcomingmeetings; (iii) past meeting participants; (iv) past meeting locations;(v) the user's ratings and/or comments regarding past meetingparticipants and/or past meetings and/or meeting locations; (vi) a listof pending invitations, pending acceptances and username contactsdeveloped using the same; (vii) saved or wish list invitations posted byother users; (viii) draft invitations prepared by the user, but not yetfinalized and posted; (ix) the user's rating by other users or commentsregarding the same.

According to one embodiment, the homepage may include the user's meetinghistory and meeting calendar and also keep a record of statisticsrelating to an individual user such as total number of invitationsposted, accepted or confirmed by the individual user, total number ofmeetings individual user participated in and/or list of any such meeting(including when and where such meetings occurred) and total numberand/or list of other users the individual user has communicated with,whether at a meeting or via intrasystem mail. Preferably, suchinformation is provided on the user's personal page.

Preferably, the user is able to insert notes regarding meetings, meetinglocations or participants or other users at such meetings.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention, the system allowsthe user to set one or more reminders relating to invites, preferablyreceived via email or other electronic transmission. Preferably, theuser can set two or more reminders, wherein at least one reminderincludes the location of the upcoming meeting, a list of participatingusers (or their usernames) or combinations thereof. Preferably the usercan customize reminders for each invite and/or set a default set ofreminders for each invite. For example, a user may wish to set twodifferent reminders for an upcoming coffee meeting. The first remindersimply notifies the user of the upcoming meeting twenty-four hoursbefore the meeting, while the second reminder is sent one hour beforethe meeting and includes the location of the meeting, directions to themeeting, and a list of participants.

According to additional preferred embodiments, the system allows a userto transmit an email or other electronic transmission to the system andautomatically receive requested information, preferably time and/orlocation information for an upcoming meeting. For example, a userneeding to recall the specific address of an upcoming meeting can emailthe system with a simple message such as “location today's meeting” andwill automatically receive the requested information.

According to additional preferred embodiments, user invites, bothinvites posted by the user and invites where the user was a meetingparticipant, are automatically archived for the user. Preferably, afterthe meeting, the user receives an email or other notification requestingcomments and/or ratings relating to the meeting, the meeting venue,and/or meeting participants. Preferably, the user can also add andmodify comments after the invite is archived. This feature will allowthe user to post comments such as whether the restaurant was enjoyable,notes about meeting participants (e.g., where they worked, what theywere like, their interests, their birthdays, spouse's or children'snames, etc.). Preferably, the user can also retrieve any archived inviteand reuse as a template for a new invite where the only required changewould be the date of the new meeting. Preferably, the user is provided aclickable button on the user's dashboard to view and/or search forarchived invites. According to one preferred embodiment, the systemtransmits the archived data (e.g., via email attachment or viadownloadable format) to users on a scheduled basis (e.g., daily, weekly,monthly or yearly) or at the request of the user, preferably the systemdeletes such transmitted data after transmission to conserve space onthe system. According to another preferred embodiment, one or moreportions of the archived data (e.g., ratings or comments regardingmeeting venues) are collected and aggregated for public review therebyenabling ratings or comments regarding venues, meetings or participantsto be made publicly available. Preferably, the data is made public atthe user's option. Preferably, the username is not associated with thepublished data.

Preferably, the user's homepage or dashboard includes informationrelating to or lists of the other users the user has either met with oris interested in meeting with. According to one preferred embodiment, auser may request to be notified (e.g., via email) if a particular userposts an invitation or has accepted another invitation or if a certaintype of invitation has been posted. For example, a user may live in NYCand want to be notified if any dinner invite is posted involvingbusiness-networking for corporate attorneys. As another example, theuser may wish to be notified if an invitation is posted or accepted byanother specific user.

According to other preferred embodiments of the invention, the systemfurther allows users to establish a notification rules based on thelocation of the user, preferably the location determined or tracked viaan electronic wireless device such that the user is notified of meetingswith locations proximate the user's location. Preferably, users may texttheir location to the system, which then notifies them of any upcomingnearby meeting invites. Preferably, the user can set a radius ofcoverage (e.g., anything within 1 mile, 10 miles, etc.). Preferably, theuser can limit the notifications to those proximate meetings havingcertain specified characteristics (e.g., if a particular user posts aninvitation or has accepted another invitation or if a certain type ofinvitation has been posted). For example, the user may be a financialplanner and wish to be notified if there is any invite posted for ameeting within five miles of the present location of the user, withinthe next week, and having any one or more of the keywords “retirement orfinancial planning or 401(k)”. Thus, if another user posts an invitationto have coffee to discuss retirement planning issues and the location ofthe proposed meeting is within five miles of the first user, the firstuser will be notified. See, for example, US Patent Publication20050177614 by Bourne, hereby incorporated by reference, for similarsocial and business networking methodologies utilizing mobile devicescarried by users. The present invention distinguishes from Bourne sincethe notifications are based on the location and time of a proposedmeeting, and preferably also the characteristics of the invite, ratherthan being based on a user's profile. The wireless device can include acellphone, pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA, e.g., with GPRSNIC), a mobile computer with a smartphone client, a earphone or auto GPSdevice, or the like. A typical mobile device is a wireless accessprotocol (WAP)-enabled device that is capable of sending and receivingdata in a wireless manner using the wireless application protocol. Thewireless application protocol (“WAP”) allows users to access informationvia wireless devices, such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios,communicators, and the like. WAP supports wireless networks, includingCDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT,DataTAC, and Mobitex, and it operates with many handheld deviceoperating systems, such as PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, andJavaOS. Typically, WAP-enabled devices use graphical displays and canaccess the Internet (or other communication network) on so-called mini-or micro-browsers, which are web browsers with small file sizes that canaccommodate the reduced memory constraints of handheld devices and thelow-bandwidth constraints of a wireless networks. In a representativeembodiment, the mobile device is a cellular telephone that operates overGPRS (General Packet Radio Service), which is a data technology for GSMnetworks. In addition to a conventional voice communication, a givenmobile device can communicate with another such device via manydifferent types of message transfer techniques, including SMS (shortmessage service), enhanced SMS (EMS), multi-media message (MMS), emailWAP, paging, or other known or later-developed wireless data formats. Inan illustrated embodiment, mobile device users use SMS, which is a textmessage service that enables short messages (e.g., generally no morethan 140-160 characters in length) to be sent and transmitted from amobile device.

Preferably, users can adjust their account settings, profile and/orinvite characteristics so as to block certain users or certain types ofusers (e.g., users not having specified profiles, rankings etc.) fromaccepting an invite, reviewing an invite or communicating with the user.According to one preferred embodiment, the user can block other specificusers or classes of users (e.g., to block users who are marketing,selling or recruiting).

According to another preferred embodiment, the system provides fordifferent membership levels. For example, this may include a freemembership and a paying membership. Preferably, paying members can postinvitations that can only be accepted by and/or viewed by other payingmembers. Preferably, such posted invitations would not occur in thesearch results of nonpaying members. One advantage would be to allowusers enhanced quality control by allowing only paying members to acceptmeeting invitations thereby excluding spam acceptances or the like.Preferably, members have certain characteristics in their profiles cansimilarly restrict the acceptance, viewing and locating of their invitesby users not having those characteristics in their profiles.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the system allows theuser to maintain a personal profile database on the user's personalhomepage (e.g., “MyProfile” or “PersonalProfile” page). Preferably, theuser is able to designate the user's profile or other information ashaving different levels of public accessibility and/or having differentlimitations on how the information can be used. For example, thepersonal profile may include a public profile containing publicinformation which may be disclosed to other users on the system (e.g.,industry or profession, education, hometown, etc.) and a privatepersonal profile (e.g., current employer, past employers, full name,etc.) which is not made available to the other users or only madeavailable to certain users. Preferably, a user can designate certainlimitations on part or all of the personal information on their “myprofile” page and preferably later change such designation(s). Forexample, the user is preferably provided with the following privacydesignations or designation categories: (a) public information (e.g.,any user can see), (b) shielded information only viewable by certainusers (e.g., registered users, users having disclosed similarinformation, users the user has previously met with, or users the useris scheduled to meet with); (c) private (e.g., no other users can see),etc. Preferably, the user can also select certain use limitationsrelating to the information such as (a) no limitations on use; (b) canuse for system notifications/updates; (c) can use for commercialpurposes (e.g., for targeted ads, promotions); (d) can commercially sellor license to third party.

According to one preferred embodiment, the system allows the individualto initially answer a number of questions or input menus about himselfor herself to construct the individuals profile for their personalwebpage.

The public or private profile may also include the personality traits ofthe user to increase the likelihood of a good match between users (e.g.,brief description of self, favorite book/movie, latest book read,astrological sign, famous personality most alike or compared to, petpeeves, political beliefs, religion, etc.). The personal profile alsopreferably includes a private profile containing private informationwhich is preferably not shared with other users. Additional information,preferably private information, may include the following: the sex ofthe individual; home and/or business address and telephone number; homeand/or business email address; credit card and/or debit card number andinformation (e.g., for payment of any fees or deposits); name ofemployer; past product purchases, potential future product purposes,favorite brands, least favorite brands, etc. Preferably, the user isable to designate or change the designation of such information,individually or collectively, to have different levels of privacy and/ordifferent levels of use limitations.

One purpose or advantage of a private profile portion would be tomaintain user information confidential for administration purposes only(e.g., charging fees, etc.) and/or “quality control” (e.g., properinvite postings and acceptances).

An additional advantage would enable users to avoid inappropriate orunintended meetings such as those which may make the user uncomfortable.Thus, another aspect of the invention relates to systems and methodswherein the type of invitation or the type of criteria in an invitationa user may post as an inviter or accept as an acceptor will depend onthe user's profile (herein “profile rule”). One preferred embodimentrelates to a system and method whereby the inviter cannot create aninvitation with a certain invitee requirement without having certaincomplying information in the inviters profile page. For example,although the intent of the system and method of the invention is not toprovide a “dating service” and thus the gender of the users should beirrelevant, there may be legitimate reasons why a user wishes to meetonly with individuals of a certain gender. For example, if the invitinguser is a female and wishes to have a networking dinner with one or moreindividuals, the user may wish to meet with only females for safety orother reasons (e.g., is traveling in a foreign city). Preferably, thesystem allows the female user to post an invitation that includes“females only” in the criteria. Alternatively, the system may providethat such an invitation may be review and/or accepted only by memberswho are females. At the same time, the system would preferably not allowa male to post a “females only” invitation disguised as a female if hisprivate profile indicates his gender as male. Another example would bean inviter not being able to post an invitation for Yale alumni unlessthe inviter's profile page indicates the inviter is also a Yale alumnusor another Ivy League school. Preferably, there are appropriateexceptions to any rule. For example, an inviter may post an invitationfor meeting with Columbia University alumni even if the inviter is notan alumnus of that school, if the inviter's profile is designated as anapplicant to the school or the invitation's “purpose” is indicated asbeing for obtaining information about the school as a prospectiveapplicant to the school. Similarly, a user cannot create an invitationfor GE only employees unless the inviter's profile indicates also a GEemployee (for intra-company networking) or the invitation is posted by aprospective employee for the purpose of learning information about GEfrom current employees or is posted by someone within GE's industry (ora sales/marketing person who services the industry) and the inviteincludes an appropriate purpose.

According to another embodiment, the more information the inviter oruser provides in the user's “profile” page, the more flexibility increating invitations and accepting invitations. One embodiment relatesto the use of a profile page where the user can optionally fill outcertain fields (e.g., profession, salary, net worth, gender, politicalaffiliation, employer, former employers, etc.), however, failure to fillout the questions prevents the user from posting an invitation with suchrequired characteristics or accepting an invitation which has suchcharacteristics.

Preferably, a user registers and constructs the personal profile bysupplying information in various fields on a form (e.g., a Web page)supplied by the server to the user. After filling such fields, the useris prompted with an option to post an invitation or review postedinvitations (discussed below).

In one embodiment, the individuals can register only once to prevent thecreation of multiple profiles for a single individual. Preferably, it ispossible to change existing information in the personal profile.Preferably, the information cannot be changed very often, because thiswould unnecessarily complicate operation of the system. In oneembodiment, the number of times information may be changed by residentsis limited to once a month, for example.

According to one embodiment, posting an invite on the invitation boardis only possible if the “inviter” is registered and therefore has his orher own personal web page and/or personal profile.

Another aspect of the invention relates to improved systems and methodsfor posting, accepting, and confirming meetings, wherein the invitinguser is allowed to generate an invitation that allows certain responsesfrom the other users.

According to one embodiment, the inviter has the option to designate theinvitation as allowing for counterproposals from other users (e.g.,propose different time or place). If the inviter chooses not to allowthis option, the other users would not be allowed to counterpropose,instead they can only accept the invitation “as is”.

According to another embodiment, the original inviter would allowcertain specified counterproposals (e.g., allow for different time, butnot different location). For example, the counterproposals could belimited to changes to the proposed time or allow for a window of timefor counterproposals or change in the proposed number of invitees (e.g.,the invite requests only three invitees, but an interested user had fouracquaintances who would like to attend). As another example, the invitercould allow for counterproposals relating to the specified location forthe meeting (e.g., a different restaurant), specified cuisine for dinnermeeting (e.g., propose Asian cuisine rather than French cuisine).

According to one preferred embodiment, the inviter is able to specifythat only users having certain user profiles are allowed tocounterpropose an invite or allowed certain types of counterproposals.For example, a preselected user or a user closely fitting the inviteecriteria in the invitation may be allowed to counterpropose, while otherusers may not. In making a counterproposal, the user may change one ormore attributes of the invitation. If the author of the invitation doesnot accept the counterproposal, the author of the counterproposal, uponbeing notified that the counterproposal was not accepted, may be giventhe option of generating a new invitation based on the counterproposal.That is, the new invitation may inherit one or more attributes (e.g.,time and/or location) from the counterproposal that was not accepted.

Another aspect of the invention relates to improved systems and methodswhich allow individuals to post invitations on a computer-based networkfor review and acceptance by other users. Preferably, the user has theoption to post an (i) open invite (preferably with the option to requireapproval of any RSVPs or acceptances); (ii) targeted invite eitherdescribing the types of individuals the user wants to meet and/or thespecific individuals the user wants to meet; or (iii) private invitesthat are not published on the website but are instead directly sent toor viewable by specific individuals and/or users having certaincharacteristics (e.g., set forth in the user's profile).

According to one embodiment, a user reviewing the invitation is providedwith the option to accept the invitation or place on watch or wish listfor later consideration. Preferably, when the accepting user accepts aninvitation, a notification (e.g., email) is sent to the inviterinforming the inviter that a particular user has accepted the inviter'sinvitation. According to one preferred embodiment, the acceptor'sacceptance of the invitation forms the meeting. According to another,the original inviter is required to confirm, approve or accept theacceptance to confirm the meeting with that user (preferably anotification is then forwarded to the accepting user confirming themeeting), decline the acceptance (in which case the accepting userpreferably receives a notification that the user's acceptance wasdeclined) or place the acceptance on hold for a decision (e.g.,accepting/confirming or declining) at a later time. According to onepreferred embodiment, if the original inviter is required to confirm anacceptance before a meeting is formed, the acceptor is provided with theoption to include a “deadline” for such confirmation. Preferably, theaccepting user is provided with the option of submitting a comment tothe inviter using (e.g., “The invite says 7 pm, I can only make it by7:15 pm. Is this ok?”) and, preferably the inviting user can respond,preferably via double-blind email.

According to one embodiment, the invitation is posted by at first userand if another user or a second user is interested, that other user(“the accepting user” or “acceptor”) transmits (either directly orindirectly) an “acceptance” (if the terms of invite are acceptable) or“counterinvitation” (if the second user needs to modify the originalinvitation in any manner such as a different time or place) to theinviting user who may approve/confirm/accept, decline or hold theinvitation or “counterinvitation”. The system communicates theacceptance to or the acceptance is accessible by the inviting party whocan either confirm or approve the acceptance (thus establishing themeeting) or decline the acceptance for whatever reason (e.g., acceptingparty doesn't fit profile, change of plans, etc.) or place on hold for adecision at a later time. Preferably, the inviter may also communicateone or more questions to the accepting party and the acceptor may replyor forward comments to inviter. Preferably, the inviting user cantransmit a question or comment to the accepting user prior to, with orafter either accepting, declining or holding.

Preferably, the communications between the inviter and accepting usersare via doubleblind email and/or are viewable by each user when viewingthe invite. Preferably, a user wishing to communicate with other userscan select whether the proposed comment would be (a) published with thepublished invite and viewable by any user using the website; (b)published with the published invite and viewable by any registered userusing the website; (c) published with the invite and thus viewable byall approved meeting participants; (d) sent to and/or viewable only byselected users (e.g., selected approved meeting participants); (e) sentto and/or viewable only by the inviter. According to a preferredembodiment, the user is provided with a link or option when viewing aninvite to open or access a communication module or page associated withthat invite and communicate with one or more or all of the usersassociated with that invite. Preferably, the comments are displayed withor associated with each username and the user is provided with theoptions (a)-(d) when creating a comment or communication. Preferably,the comments are not only displayed on or otherwise linked to theinvite, but are also emailed to each recipient, preferably viadouble-blind email. Preferably, the user is able to select whether thecommunications sent or received are: (a) solely displayed when reviewingthe invite (e.g., via a link provided on the invite); (b) solelytransmitted via email, preferably double-blind email; or (c) both (a)and (b). Preferably, the user is provided with the option to turn-offemail communications, even more preferably the user can have a defaultsetting or turn-off the email communications for individual invites.

According to one preferred embodiment, if the accepting party submits acounterinvitation, the inviting party can either decline or accept thecounterinvitation. If the counterinvitation is accepted by the firstparty/original inviter, the acceptance of the counterinvitation ispreferably then communicated to the accepting user/counterinviter.According to one embodiment, the accepting user/counterinviter isrequired to confirm the counterinvitation to establish the meeting.According to another embodiment, the meeting between the originalinviter and the counter inviter is automatically confirmed once theoriginal inviter accepts the counterinvitation.

Preferably, if a counterinvitation is accepted by the original inviter,the original invitation is preferably modified to include the revisedterms of the counterinvitation (so that additional invitation seekerscan review the updated invitation, which is the counterinvitation,should the invitation allow for additional participants at the meeting).Preferably, the original invite is removed. According to one preferredembodiment, if a counterinvitation is declined, the counterinviter isprovided with the option to post the counterinvitation as a newinvitation.

According to one embodiment, the inviter can access an update orinformation relating to the user's posted invitation with informationincluding: (i) the invitation content or content summary; (ii) thenumber of user acceptances accepted/confirmed by the inviter; (iii) thenumber or list of user acceptances declined by the user; (iv) the numberof users or list of user acceptances on hold; (v) the number ofremaining openings for the proposed meeting; (vi) comments orcommunications. Preferably, the update can be in the form of a list ofposted invitations or a calendar of upcoming meetings or proposedmeetings.

Another aspect of the invention relates to the categorization,organization and management of invitations.

According to another embodiment, if the user posts an invitation,receives acceptances, and then fails to confirm the acceptances, thesystem may send an email or other communication to the inviterrequesting confirmation so that the accepting users may planaccordingly. Preferably, the other users are provided with the option tohave the meeting without the inviter and such users will preferablyreceive a notification when the other users confirm the meeting shouldstill proceed. If the inviter fails to respond, the user may be askedwhether he or she still wants to participate. Alternatively, accordingto one preferred embodiment, the inviter's personal homepage may becancelled, the user's profile or usernames labeled with a “blackmark” orother negative rating or indication, and/or fined a certain dollaramount to discourage the posting of “false” invitations or the like.

Similarly, users who accept an invitation but fail to confirm theconfirmation or participate in the scheduled meeting may be asked ifthey want to remain registered or cancel their registration,automatically cancel their personal Web page or profile, and/or finetheir personal web page.

Preferably, unacceptable acceptances (e.g., do not match the criteriaset forth in the invitation) are screened by the system or such usersare not allowed to review or accept such invitations. More specifically,if the inviting user requested to meet with a resident of a town he isvisiting (e.g., to learn about the town), and a user who is not aresident of the town transmits or posts a nonconforming acceptance, thesystem preferably either screens the improper acceptance (e.g., doesn'tallow it to be posted or transmitted to the inviter) or “tags” theacceptance as nonconforming so that the inviter can readily recognizethat it is improper and not review it or otherwise respond to it.

According to another embodiment multiple acceptances are categorized forthe inviter user (e.g., time posted, by closest match, by any timedeadlines set for responding, etc.). Preferably, the inviter is notifiedif an acceptor is someone the inviter has previously met with or is onthe inviter's “wishlist” of invitees, or is a user that is highly ornegatively rated by other users or the system, etc.

One embodiment relates to a system or method that allows for differentlevels of invitations and/or users. For example, “premium” invitations(e.g., invitations posted by members having certain privileges based onthe user's profile, user ratings, and/or subscription payments) will bemade available to certain users (e.g., other premium users).

Another aspect of the invention relates to systems and methods thatprovides for segregation of certain invitations (e.g., romance orientedinvitations or like) from the other invitation so that such segregatedinvitations will not be searchable by users or otherwise show up insearch results unless the user specifically requests such invitations insearch criteria. According to another embodiment, invitations may besimilarly separated or segregated based on text found in the invite.Preferably, users are provided with the option to include such invitesin search results, exclude such invites in search results or searchexclusively for such “romance” oriented invitations.

Another aspect of the invention relates to improved methods and systemsthat allow users to search for invitations of interest.

According to one embodiment, the user can search by the same criteria orcategories used for posting an invitation (e.g., limit search bylocation, time, date, purpose, type of meeting, etc.) or a subset ofsuch criteria (e.g., limit search by location and purpose). Accordingthe one preferred embodiment, the search criteria is by location, dateand invitee characteristics. According to another preferred embodiment,the search criteria is location and invitee characteristics. Accordingto another preferred embodiment, the search criteria is by location andpurpose or keyword(s). According to another, by location and type ofmeeting. According to yet another, the search criteria includes username(e.g., search for invites posted and/or accepted by particular users).

Another option of the invention allows individuals searching andreviewing invites to designate certain invitations as “maybe” or“wishlist”. Preferably, the system provides a “maybe” list associatedwith the user's profile page. The user may then access the “saved” or“wishlist” invitation from the user's homepage, open and accept.Preferably, the system notifies the user (e.g., via email or otherwise)when only one opening is left and/or when the deadline for acceptinginvitation is approaching.

Another aspect of the invention relates to improved systems and methodsthat would allow the users to communicate with each other, preferablyanonymously.

According to one embodiment, the inviter can designate in an invitationor the inviter's profile as allowing for responses or questions orcomments from the other users, and preferably designate whether suchresponses, questions or comments are posted with the invitation and/orsent directly to the inviter's email address or the inviter's profilepage (e.g., the user's “myprofile” page). One advantage of thisfunctionality would be the ability of the users to better communicateabout a proposed invitation, about an upcoming meeting, about a pastmeeting, or on any other topic. Preferably, an inviter has the option tocommunicate with any accepting user or pre-selected users and/or tocommunication with only confirmed meeting participants or with one ormore selected users. Preferably, the system allows accepting users tocommunicate with the inviter and confirmed meeting participants tocommunicate with one or more of the inviter and/or other confirmedmeeting participants. Preferably, the communications arc via doubleblindemails and/or viewable via the invite.

Another aspect of the invention relates to an improved method or systemfor arranging for the exchange or loan of information or tangibleproducts. For example, one embodiment of the invention relates to anon-line method for arranging for an exchange or meeting between two ormore users comprising:

(a) receiving a proposed invitation to meet or exchange from an inviter,said proposed invitation comprising proposed invitation informationincluding a description of the proposed transaction and, optionally, aproposed time and place for a proposed meeting; and

(b) providing or displaying said proposed invitation information at alocation accessible by one or more users, wherein the invitationincludes a description of the information or item sought to beexchanged, loaned, borrowed or reviewed, evaluated, etc.

Preferably, the invitation includes a location or location range (e.g.,within 10 miles of a specific location) for the exchange and the item(s)which the inviter seeks to exchange (e.g., inviter interested in buyingfrom or selling to the other user), borrow, use or see/evaluate/test(e.g., considering purchasing the product and would like to see it upclose). According to a preferred embodiment, the invitation includes atime and/or date or range(s) for time and/or date for the proposedmeeting. According to another preferred embodiment, the invitationincludes a deadline for accepting the invite. For example, the invitermay be a traveling individual and realize she has forgotten a power cordfor her laptop and urgently requires re-powering her laptop battery. Thesystem allows her to post an invitation for a proposed exchange whereshe will borrow a replacement power cord from a third party. If theinviter is only going to be at location for four days, the inviter canpreferably include that date range in the invitation and also preferablyrequest that any acceptances be made within two days. The inviter'sinvitation can include the item to be borrowed, her proximate locationand range she is willing to travel, a specific place for meeting or atype of meeting place (e.g., will meet at any coffee shop) and an offerto compensate the other person for loaning the power cord.

Another aspect of the invention relates to networking or exchangesystems and methods having improved security and reliabilitycharacteristics.

Preferably, a username is assigned to new users by default, unless theuser selects a unique username.

According to one embodiment, users are required to acknowledge signingup, posting an invitation and/or accepting an invitation via email orcell phone. For example, the system may email or instant message a linkor code to the user that the user clicks or inputs into the system toconfirm registration.

According to another embodiment, the system does not allow a user topost or accept conflicting or otherwise overlapping invitations.

According to another embodiment, a user can only have less than 100,preferably less then 50, more preferably less than 25 active orunexpired invitations posted or accepted at anytime to reduce “spam” orfraudulent invitations.

According to another embodiment, users are able to contact the system ifanother user abuses the system or is otherwise disruptive to theservice. Preferably, the users are able to designate an invitation orprofile as being inappropriate for the site or for the purpose category.

According to another embodiment, users are required to submit a“deposit” (e.g., a credit card account, paypal account, etc.) and arepenalized for posting false invitations or falsely accepting invitationsor failing to show up to confirmed meetings.

According to one embodiment, users who are found to post fraudulentinvitations and/or acceptances may be penalized by having their profileinformation, including information that the user requested to remainprivate, published so that other users can better avoid the fraudulentuser.

According to one embodiment, the system preferably keeps a record of oneor more, preferably all, of the following: (i) the total number ofwebsite visitors, (ii) total number of users that are registered andunverified signups, (iii) the total number of invitations posted, (iv)the total number of invitations reviewed, (v) the total number ofinvitations accepted, (vi) the total number of invitations confirmed and(vii) the total number of meetings completed. Preferably, the systemalso enables users to rate other users, meetings, and meeting locations,and such ratings are preferably published for review by other users.According to one preferred embodiment, users are able to select whethertheir personal ratings would be public or private.

The system may also keep a record of statistics relating to anindividual user such as total number of invitations posted, accepted orconfirmed by the individual user, total number of meetings theindividual user participated in and/or list of any such meeting(including when and where such meetings occurred) and total numberand/or list of other users the individual user has communicated with,whether at a meeting or via intrasystem mail. Preferably, suchinformation is provided on the user's personal page.

According to one embodiment, an automatic maintenance procedure isprovided (e.g., “stale” invitations are deleted). U.S. Pat. No.5,963,913 to Henneuse et al. Preferably, in order to free up unusedspace on the system, inactive personal pages may be cancelled. Forexample, if a user has not logged into the system for three months, heor she may be sent an email message asking him or her whether he or shestill wants to be registered in the system. An automatic procedure thenasks the user if the user wants to remain registered or wants to beremoved from the database. If no reply is received with two weeks, forexample, the user's personal profile will be removed automatically.

In one embodiment, the database homepage, personal homepage and/orinvitation bulletin board includes advertising graphics. The advertisinggraphics can be in the form of billboards, links, banners or the like.In one embodiment, the advertiser can design the advertisement andprovides the designed advertisement to the system. For example, theadvertiser can indicate to the system the location of a graphics file.This may include a URL if the network employed is the Internet, mayinclude a drive and file name if the network employed is an Intranetnetwork, a local area network, or a wide area network, or a graphicsfile may be transferred if a dial up connection is employed. In onepreferred embodiment, the advertiser can decide to have itsadvertisement displayed only when the user performing a search meets theadvertiser's pre-defined profile. For example, if the user has indicatedin his profile that he is a golfer, an advertiser of golf products orservices may display an advertisement when the user is logged on.Alternatively, the profile of an invitation may also prompt certainadvertisements, such as based on the location of a proposed meeting ortype of meeting. For example, a restaurant or hotel or a limousineservice in New York City may display advertisements to users who post ininvitation for or users who are reviewing invitations for New York City.In one embodiment, the advertiser may target certain users by e-mail totheir personal webpage.

According to one embodiment, each set of users who confirm a meeting isprovided with a temporary “guest identification”. The guestidentifications can be used to connect with the other individual withoutexchanging full names. Moreover, users can be instructed to exchangetheir codes when they meet. Then if one user doesn't show, this can beverified by asking that user for the other user's codes. If the user hasit, he can use as verification that he attended the meeting. Accordingto one embodiment, users can be required to submit the other user'sverification codes, preferably only if a dispute regarding meetingattendance is presented. Preferably, a user that confirmed a meeting butfailed to attend can be penalized, preferably only at the option of theother participants or, according to another embodiment, are penalizedunless such penalty is objected to by the other meeting participants(e.g., the other meeting participants received a notification from theother user of the user's inability to attend the meeting or acceptableexcuse for not attending after the meeting).

Another aspect of the invention relates to improved methods and systemsas described above wherein such methods and systems require user fees orsubscription payments or generated other forms of revenues.

As stated above, the users may be “members” or “subscribers” to aservice which provides access to the inventive system and method.Preferably, in order to access the system and use its functionality,users are asked to store profile information in the database.Individuals who use the system are preferably then allocated their“personal webpage” that incorporates this profile information. Accordingto one embodiment of the invention, targeted advertisements and/orpromotions are sent or displayed to the user based on the user's profileinformation, meeting calendar or any other information associated withthe user.

According to another embodiment, users are required to place anelectronic deposit (e.g., using Paypal, credit card, etc.) in exchangefor using the system. Preferably, such a deposit could provideadditional “quality control” since the users would only be able to usethe service without charge if they place a “deposit” (e.g., using acredit card) in order to post an invitation and/or transmit anacceptance. According to one preferred embodiment, if the user fails tohonor the invitation or acceptance, the user may forfeit the deposit ora portion of the deposit or otherwise be fined or penalized (e.g.,provided with a negative rating).

According to another embodiment, the system, method and/or service maybe funded or further funded by user membership fees (e.g., daily,weekly, monthly or yearly) or a fee may be charged for each invitationposted and/or each invitation accepted. Preferably, the purpose andfunction of such fees is not only to support the system but also toprovide an element of quality control for the invitations posted andaccepted. For example, a user may be discouraged from using the serviceif “false” invitations and/or “false” acceptances are posted on thesystem. A user may believe such an invitation or acceptance is real andshow up to the scheduled meeting place only to find that the invitationor acceptance was fraudulent. This would obviously frustrate a user whootherwise may have made other plans or selected a different invitationor acceptance. Such fraudulent activity could decrease the benefits ofthe inventive system. Thus, the requirement that fees be paid for use ofthe system or fines charges to those who post fake invitations oracceptance should improve the quality of the service.

According to one preferred embodiment, only computer users who are“members” or “subscribers” of the service can post invitations and/orreview, browse and/or search the invitations and/or respond to theinvention with an acceptance or counter invitation. One advantage oflimiting access to “subscribing” or “member” users is to provide“quality control”. That is, subscribers or members would provide theservice with personal information including email, residence and/orother identifying information. This would decrease the likelihood ofpranks such as the posting of a “fake invitation” or “fake acceptance”.A service which provides genuine invitations and acceptances wouldclearly be advantageous to the users. Alternatively, “quality control”may also be provided by charging users with a fee to post an invitationand/or review, browse, and/or search invitations and/or accept aninvitation. For example, the method and system may include a transactionfee and/or a deposit which is charged to the user's credit card or thelike.

Another aspect of the invention relates to online messages oradvertisements (e.g., banner ads) which when clicked by a user will setup an invite or meeting (“ad-generated invite”) or a form to becompleted to create such an invite with a vendor or service provider oran agent for an agent or service provider or an employee orrepresentative or affiliate of the advertiser (“Commercial Users”). Sucha message or advertisement can be a “request for invitation” in that itis an open request for another user to post the requested invitation fora meeting. For example, a banner may state “Meet with a State FarmInsurance Agent” and when a user clicks or otherwise selects the ad, anad-generated invite or invite form is automatically generated to meetwith a representative of the advertiser. The user selects a time and/orlocation and the ad-generated invitation is transmitted to theadvertiser. Preferably, the ad-generated invitation automatically fillsin the user's profile information (e.g., background, location),preferably as default information (e.g., the user can change thelocation if wishes to meet at another location). Alternatively, the usercan fill in the time and location for the proposed meeting. Preferably,the advertiser or the advertiser's agents or representatives arenotified (e.g., via mail) that a user has generated such an invite for ameeting so that an employee or representative can be assigned to meetwith the user. According to one preferred embodiment, the ad generatedinvitation is listed (e.g., on an online bulletin board) for review andacceptance by the Commercial Users. Preferably, the posted ad-generatedinvites are bid for or auctioned to the highest bidder. According toanother embodiment, the Commercial Users pay fees to subscribe to accessand/or accept such ad-generated invites. According to one preferredembodiment, the advertiser or advertiser's agent or other CommercialUser can then accept the ad-generated invitation or counter theinvitation (e.g., propose a different time or location). Preferably, theCommercial User's have profiles pages or dashboards, preferably similarto other users. Preferably, the user is notified of any acceptance orcounter and a meeting is formed as described above for conventional(e.g., no advertisement) invitations. Preferably, the notification tothe user confirms the meeting. According to another preferredembodiment, the user must confirm the Commercial User's acceptancebefore the meeting is confirmed. Further, users may be allowed to browsefor invitations and in searching for invitation, the system may alsoreturn in the search results relevant requests for invitations fromcommercial users. The requests for invitation may be banneradvertisements or in another form suitable for inclusion in the searchresults. Tn some embodiments, the user who submits a request to browsefor invitations may indicate that the search should encompass onlyinvitations (i.e., should exclude requests for invitations), or shouldinclude both invitations and requests for invitations, or should includeonly request for invitations.

According to another embodiment, the advertisement is an invitationposted by an advertiser for a proposed meeting with interested users(e.g., financial planner interested in meeting with potential clients).According to one preferred embodiment, the advertisement invitationincludes proposed location. According to another preferred embodiment,the invitation includes or further includes a proposed time. Accordingto another preferred embodiment, the invention includes or furtherincludes the type of meeting (e.g., coffee, lunch, etc.) and/or paymentobligation (e.g., advertising party offers to pay). According to yetanother embodiment, the advertisement is generic (e.g., “Meet with aReal Estate Agent” or “Meet with a Financial Planner”) and anyad-generated invitation created in response to the advertisement is sentto or made available to Commercial Users (e.g., real estate agents orfinancial planners), preferably as potential business leads. Preferably,the advertiser or other Commercial User is charged a fee for eachinvitation posted and/or accepted and/or for each meeting held.According to another embodiment, ad-generated invitations are sent to anad-generated invite distributor and such distributor commercializes thead-generated invites to Commercial Users. Preferably, the notificationsof acceptance are sent from Commercial Users. According to anotherembodiment, the notifications are sent through the distributor or anagent for the Commercial Users. Accordingly to yet another embodiment,users who post ad generated invitations and/or participant in suchmeetings are compensated or otherwise awarded for their participation.

A further aspect of the invention relates to integrating into the sitevendor services that can be made available to users as they set upmeetings. For example, the site may provide interested vendors a buttonsuch as “Get Listed as Venue (e.g., Restaurant)” or the like, which whenclicked, will cause a page to open asking the vendor for registrationinformation such as, e.g.,: (a) name; (b) address/phone; (c) vendor type(e.g., restaurant, bar, etc.); (d) cuisine; (e) website or link towebsite; (f) menu, (g) specials, (h) ratings, (i) cost, etc. Uponsubmission of the information, the system may generate and store theinformation into a vendor profile in a database. Later, when users aresetting up meetings, the site can provide pull down menus or searchabledatabases to allow users to select registered vendors whose profileinformation match the type of meeting being set up. For example, if theinvite is for dinner, the site requests a food preference and provideselected restaurants in response to the food preference. Preferably, thesystem would charge the vendors in order for them to submit or listtheir information on the site, or upon a user selecting the vendors'services to facilitate their meetings.

Accordingly to yet another embodiment, users who select a listed orsubscribing venue as a meeting location are compensated or otherwiseawarded (e.g., provided with discounts) for their selection.

FIG. 9 illustrates the components of a basic computing device inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention; a computingdevice as depicted may constitute any one or more of the user/vendorterminals (100, 110, 120) and a server running the meeting engine (140),for example. The computing device may be a personal computer,workstation, server, or any other type of microprocessor-based device,including for example a mobile electronic device such as a PDA (personaldigital assistant) or a mobile telephone. The computing device mayinclude one or more of a processor (910), input device (920), outputdevice (930), storage (940), and communication device (960).

The input device (920) may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-operated touchscreen or monitor, voice-recognition device, or any other device thatprovides input. The output device (930) may include a monitor, printer,disk drive, speakers, or any other device that provides output.

The storage (940) may include volatile and nonvolatile data storage,including one or more electrical, magnetic or optical memories includingsuch as a RAM, cache, hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive or removablestorage disk. The communication device (960) may include a modem,network interface card, or any other device capable of transmitting andreceiving signals over a network. The components of the computing devicemay be connected in any manner, such as via electrical bus orwirelessly.

The software (950), which may be stored in the storage (940) andexecuted by the processor (910), may include, for example, theapplication programming that embodies the functionality of the presentinvention (e.g., as embodied in the meeting engine (140)). The software(950) may include a combination of client applications and enterpriseservers such as an application server and a database server.

Communications may occur over any type of network (105), which mayimplement any communications protocol, which may be secured by anysecurity protocol. Network links may include telephone lines, DSL, cablenetworks, T1 or T3 lines, wireless network connections, or any otherarrangement that implements the transmission and reception of networksignals.

The computing device may implement any operating system, such asWindows, Linux or UNIX. The software (950) may be written in anyprogramming language, such as C, C++, Java, Ruby on Rails, Visual Basicand/or SQL. In various embodiments, application software embodying thefunctionality of the present invention may be deployed on a standalonemachine, in a client/server arrangement or through a Web browser as aWeb-based application or Web service, for example.

With respect to the appended claims, unless stated otherwise, the term“first” does not, by itself, require that there also be a “second”.

While the particular methods, devices and systems described herein anddescribed in detail are fully capable of attaining the above-describedobjects and advantages of the invention, it is to be understood thatthese are the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and arethus representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplatedby the present invention, that the scope of the present invention fullyencompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilledin the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordinglyto be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in whichreference to an element in the singular means “one or more” and not “oneand only one”, unless otherwise so recited in the claim.

It will be appreciated that modifications and variations of theinvention are covered by the above teachings and within the purview ofthe appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scopeof the invention. For example, software modules that implement thepresent invention such as the meeting engine (140) may comprise severaldiscrete modules that together still provide the same functionality,data specified in the illustrated databases (150, 160, 170) may bespread over several databases and/or systems (e.g., a server may be twoor more servers acting together) and the flow diagrams of FIGS. 2-8 mayencompass combined steps or several intermediate steps that do notdetract from the higher level functionality described therein. As usedherein and in the appended claims, a “server” should be understood torefer to one server or more than one server.

1-21. (canceled)
 22. A computer-based method to facilitate networkingbetween a first user and other users comprising: receiving by a server arequest from said first user over a network to create an invitation tonetwork with a second user; determining whether one or more rulesassociated with invitation creation apply to the request from the firstuser to create the invitation; processing the request if all rulesdetermined to be applicable are satisfied; and denying the request ifone or more rules determined to be applicable are not satisfied;wherein: (i) said method is performed using one or more computer devicesand results in said first user networking with said second user and saidmethod comprises automatically archiving invitations created by saidfirst user and first user comments relating to said networking formingfirst user archived data; and (ii) said method further comprisesproviding said first user with a clickable button for said first userarchived data and transmitting via email attachment or downloadableformat said first user archived data relating to said first user at therequest of the first user.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein saidfirst user and said second user do not know each other before saidrequest is received by said server to create said invitation to networkwith said second user.
 24. The method of claim 22, wherein said firstuser and said second user are fellow alumni.
 25. The method of claim 22,further comprising deleting said archived data after said transmission.26. A computer-based method of using an online banner advertisement,comprising: receiving by a server a request for an invitation for aproposed meeting from an advertising user over a network, wherein saidadvertising user is a vendor or service provider or an agent for avendor or service provider; providing the request for the invitation toother users in the form of said online banner advertisement; receivingan acceptance of the request by an accepting user; generating theinvitation for the proposed meeting in response to the acceptance; andnotifying the advertising user of the invitation; wherein said method isperformed using one or more computer devices and wherein the request forthe invitation is displayed to the other users in the form of saidonline banner advertisement and the request for the invitation isaccepted by said accepting user clicking on said displayed online banneradvertisement and said accepting user then providing accepting userinformation and thereafter said accepting user information istransmitted to said advertising user for meeting confirmation.
 27. Themethod of claim 26, further comprising said advertising user acceptingthe invitation confirming the meeting with said accepting user andnotifying said accepting user of said confirmed meeting.
 28. The methodof claim 26, wherein said clicking on the online banner advertisementgenerates a form for the accepting user to provide said accepting userinformation to transmit to said advertising user and said accepting userinformation includes location information.
 29. The method of claim 26,wherein other users are provided with said invitation based on the otherusers' location determined or tracked via an electronic wireless device.30. The method of claim 26, wherein said invitation remains open until adesignated number of users accept.
 31. The method of claim 26, whereinsaid advertising user and said accepting user do not know each otherbefore said request is received by said server to create saidinvitation.
 32. A computer-based method for arranging meetings betweentwo or more users, comprising: receiving by a server a request from afirst user over a network to create a closed invitation for a proposedmeeting; determining whether one or more rules associated withinvitation creation apply to the request from the first user to createthe invitation; processing the request if all rules determined to beapplicable are satisfied; and denying the request if one or more rulesdetermined to be applicable are not satisfied; wherein: said closedinvitation can be viewed only by other users having one or morespecified user profile characteristics and is not available to users nothaving said one or more specified user profile characteristics and isnot posted on a public invitation bulletin; and said method is performedusing one or more computer devices and wherein said method results in ameeting between said first user and at least one other user and whereinsaid first user and said at least one other user do not know each otherprior to said request by said first user and wherein said one or moreuser profile characteristics are selected from: (i) work in a certainindustry; (ii) graduated from a certain school; (iii) have a specifiedprofession; (iv) current employer; (v) past employer; (vi) professionalor social association; or (vii) fraternity/sorority.
 33. The method ofclaim 32, wherein said one or more user specified profilecharacteristics are alumni characteristics and said first user and saidother users are fellow alumni.
 34. The method of claim 32, wherein otherusers are notified of said closed invitation based on the other users'locations determined or tracked via an electronic wireless device. 35.The method of claim 32, wherein said invitation remains open until adesignated number of users accept.
 36. The method of claim 32, whereinsaid invitation includes a deadline for accepting said invite.
 37. Themethod of claim 32, wherein said invitation includes a time or timerange for said proposed meeting.
 38. The method of claim 32, whereinsaid invitation includes a location for said proposed meeting.
 39. Themethod of claim 32, wherein said invitation includes a location and atime or time range for said proposed meeting